"It looks like you guys had it pretty rough out here..." Thierri says to you as he looks around at the corpses that are strewn about.
"Sorry for the mess, Your Majesty," you say, bowing.
"Hey, it's not like I expect you to clean this place up!" he replies, laughing as he slaps you on the back. "And seeing as how you're still in a good enough mood to be cracking jokes, I take it that everyone else is doing alright?"
"The Princess are over there," you point to the southeast corner of the room where everyone else is waiting. "I used a scroll to cast Sanctuary on Luciana after the initial attack, they've been inside its boundary since then."
"I see," Celestino says as he approaches. "Good job keeping everyone safe, Reinhold."
"I actually had a lot of help in that area, but thanks," you reply.


>tell them about the traitorous guard division right now

>>30472063

"We interrogated one of the devil children, and this attack is worse than we thought. According to them, the fifth division of the royal guard has been compromised."

Rolled 1

>>30472063
was that a choice?
"So did you get any information? We managed to figure out that an entire division is corrupt. Luciana says the evidence points to the 5th division."

Rolled 3

>>30472136
>>30472133
a combination of these, and thank fucking christ there was no roll to fuck up there.

>>30472133
This sounds good

>>30472063
Crap, it got cut off.
>tell them about the traitorous guard division right now
>wait until you're inside the Sanctuary before giving your report of the situation

>>30472168
>wait until you're inside the Sanctuary before giving your report of the situation

Better safe than caught in some kind of last-ditch magical suicide bomb attack.

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>>30472168

Still going with >>30472133, but we should be walking towards the Sanctuary.

>>30472168
sanctuary first

>>30472168
>tell them about the traitorous guard division right now.
We are all competent peoplefuckeruppers here, and every bit of time counts.

>>30472168
>>tell them about the traitorous guard division right now

>>30472168
>wait until you're inside the Sanctuary before giving your report of the situation

>>30472063
>tell them about the traitorous guard division right now

>>30472063
>tell them about the traitorous guard division right now
It's important. We can talk as we go.

>>30472168
>wait until you're inside the Sanctuary before giving your report of the situation

>>30472063
As far as how to tell them, walk and talk. Cover the bases while we're on our way over to the Sanctuary, and then talk deeper logistics once everyone's together and they get their happy reunion hugging out of the way.

Once we get them briefed, it'd be good to get an idea of what the numbers are and/or the distribution of the guard regiments so we know what proportion of the castle we should expect to be compromised at the moment.

>>30472168
Wait till the sanctuary, i'm still a bit squeamish about marie not being the target of the spell

I have a question

How many people in this setting have shapeshifter magic?

THIS IS CRITICAL TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

>>30472168
>>wait until you're inside the Sanctuary before giving your report of the situation
Better safe then sorry.

>>30472168
>tell them about the traitorous guard division right now

>>30472363
As a built-in innate thing?

All Dragons, all Elementals (I think), all Kitsune (and probably any other similar demihumans out there), possibly some Devil Children if that one we fought earlier is any indication. Of course most of those aren't freeform shifters if that's what you meant.

>>30472363
.....fuck. good point.
change my vote to
>wait until you're inside the Sanctuary before giving your report of the situation

>writing

Bracelet.

As you walk to the Sanctuary along with the royals, you turn to Thierri.

"Your Majesty? We interrogated one of the Devil Children before this last wave came in," you say, pointing to the man who's still trapped in ice, "and this situation's a lot worse than we thought."
"In what way?" Thierri replies, his expression much more grim than it was only a few seconds prior.
"From what he told us, it sounds like the entire fifth division of the Royal Guard here's been compromised."

Glancing back, you notice that a single guard is walking alongside Prince Alberto.

"I know what you're thinking," Celestino says, "but he's in the Third Division."
"A... are you sure?" you say as you rest your hand on the pommel of your sword.
"I'm fairly certain so, and what he told us corroborates with what you said as well... not to mention that there's another test to determine if he's telling the truth," he points to the floor.

And sure enough, the guard's able to pass through the Sanctuary's boundary just as easily as everyone else.


>[1/?]

>>30473342
archelon daisukeyou slut

>>30473627
How dare you, Archelon is pure!

I want to waifu him

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>>30473627
>>30473670

>implying i won't steal archelon in front of both of you

we ntr now boys

>>30473718
not sure if BPQ or QTG

>>30473342
You ok over there OP?

>>30473794
be on the safe side and assume both of them.

>>30473718
>>30473670
Listen here, you two-faced twatwaffemaking tarts, Archelon loves /tg/, and /tg/ passive-aggressively loves him back like the marvelous shitbird he is.
Stop trying to hog him.
you'll get your turn

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>>30473794

just biding my time while waiting for arch to post, don't worry about it

saged both of these posts anyway since they aren't contributing shit

>>30473342
So Sanctuary stops traitors automatically even when not revealed as such to the Sanctuary user?

>>30473938
If you have I'll intentions against the target you can't get in. Not sure if it applies to anyone in the sanctuary.

>>30473938
Yeah, it's even possible to cast it on an infant or something if you need to.

>>30473977

Shut the fuck up and get back to writing, you...you baka...

>>30473938
it stops anyone with intent to harm the person it was casted on entering its boundary.

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>>30473938

Seems like it.

It stops everyone that wants to bring harm to the target of the spell, if I recall correctly. It's hard to feign that thought if you're trying to get in.

Don't know how that would work if they're already inside Sanctuary from the get-go though. I doubt it would eject them.

That being said, I'm sure arch has some book where that situation occurs.

>>30473342
>[2/2]

Relieved that they didn't have an enemy tagging along with them, you continue explaining Andreas and Gerhard's encounters with the traitorous guards, finishing just in time for Marianne to come running right for Thierri.

"I was so worried that something had happened to you!" the Princess sobs, burying her face in her father's chest.
"And I was just as worried about you, my little Marianne..." Thierri replies, gently hugging his daughter.
"Those men attacked and we were surrounded and there was blood everywhere and then Luciana set two of them on fire oh god I can still smell it!"

Yeah, you were wondering how long Marianne could keep it together before it was too much for her... you guess that finally being reunited with her father is what set her off.


>stick around thierri and marianne for now
>follow celestino and his wife as they greet their kids
>go bother someone else

>>30474039

>Ask if anyone hase seen or heard about citrine and marnius

>>30474039
>>30474064
Seconding this.

>>30474039
>stick around thierri and marianne for now
1: we're still Marianna's bodyguard.
2: we don't get to see this side of her much. might as well enjoy it.

>>30474039
>follow celestino and his wife as they greet their kids
Marianne needs to cry on Dad's shoulder, let's give her a little privacy. Keep an eye on her though, I'm sure someone strong enough could dispel a Sanctuary or a sociopath could bypass its intent or something

>>30474039
>stick around thierri and marianne for now
A short while, then

>go bother someone else

See how Nico and Greg are doing, Sylvie too.

>>30474039
>Princess guard quest
We guard the princess. Maybe the princess-makerman, too. This is what Reinholds do best.

Captcha: kediasp gallantry
gallant as fuck

>>30474039
>>follow celestino and his wife as they greet their kids
Yeah, let Marie spend some time with her dad. We can't really visit anyone else cause of Sylvie and we don't want to deal with that yet do we? If so, then let's do it.

>>30474064
second

>>30474039
>>stick around thierri and marianne for now
Duty.

>>30474039
>stick around thierri and marianne for now

>>30474039
>stick around thierri and marianne for now

>>30474039
>>stick around thierri and marianne for now

>>30474039
>Stick with Mari, but watch Lucianna's reunion with her parents.

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>>30474039
>go bother someone else

I don't think all of this is done, but you should really start looking for Citrine.

>>30474064
>>30474039
I think we should also do this.

>>30474039
Ask the king if there's a way we can check on Marius and Citrine (magically or on foot)
Otherwise:
>Guard that Princess real nice-like

>>30473977
Got it. Time to carry an important baby around at all times for Tactical Infant Shield Generator deployment.

>>30474039
>>stick around thierri and marianne for now
Still a little worried about Marianne's state of mind, and it'd be nice to be here in case it comes time to impart some life lessons about how even though killing people is bad, it's not as bad as letting them hurt the people you care about.

...and speaking of.

>>30474064
Not to rush the whole reunion or anything, but we're not exactly out of the woods just yet.

>>30474115
This couldn't hurt either. Maybe if we're lucky we may catch a few "son(?) I am proud" glances.

>>30474125

This.

Now that Marianne and Luciana are in good hands, we have to shift to other priorities.

It's not done until it's done.

>writing

>>30474039

>>30474064
YES!
also
>stick around thierri and marianne for now

>>30474180
We're asking for information. Not permission to go running off

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>>30474339

Well if we don't get sufficient information, we're gonna have to run off.

I see no reason for Reinhold not to go find them. Marianne's safe in Sanctuary with Luciana, and I see no reason for them to leave until everything is straightened out and everything is done with.

It's reckless, but it's also the only family Reinhold has.

"I don't understand how everyone else can take lives like that so easily!" Marianne sobs. "I froze one of those men solid and it felt like my heart would stop right then and there but Luciana burned one of them alive with lava and I saw Reinhold even cut someone in ha- oh god I think I'm going to be sick"
"C'mon, Marianne," Thierri replies, patting his daughter on her back. "Deep breaths... I know that you're not a fighter, but there are times like now when you can be forced to do things like that even when you really don't want to. I'm not telling you to be as tough as me or Gregory, but you have to be able to keep yourself together at times like this, you know?"
"I know, but..."


>[1/?]

>>30474653
Seems like a pretty reasonable reaction. I've seen people end up a lot worse after taking a life.

>>30474653
>>30474755

This actually might be a good thing if Granache remains in a relatively peaceful state.

A ruler or heir less inclined to or uncomfortable with resorting to violence will value life more and be more likely to make noble and humane choices for the nation.

The problem lies with if Granache enters a state of war or internal strife...

>>30474653
I honestly think it's a good thing she reacts this way. I don't think it is healthy for a ruler not to care about the value of human, or in this setting sentient, life.

>>30474791
As long as she's knows the realities of being on the losing side, she'll pull through, and the nation will love her all the more for it.

Just lost a bunch of what I was typing thanks to touchpad fuckery!
I can't wait until I'm able to use my own laptop again...

>>30474899

あぶない! あぶない!

>>30474899
I take it ctrl+z was not an effective means of recovery?

>>30474936
Just need to retype it... unfortunately.

>>30474936

Assuming it was touchpad fuckery, he probably dragged something and it reset the page.

Unless he was writing on notepad or something. I wouldn't imagine what would've happened there.

>>30474936
4chan post form doesn't normally get stored in page history (unless you have addon for that such as Lazarus).

>>30474653

Figuring that anything that you could say would probably only make things worse since you don't exactly understand how Marianne's feeling right now (chalk it up to poor upbringing), you instead step back to give them some space.

After talking for a bit with Luciana, Lisette hands her Chiara while she sees about Emilio and Elena, both of whom erupt into tears as their mother pulls them into a tight embrace. Celestino then walks up to her and the two begin talking... though you can't make out what they're saying, you can tell from the scowl on Luciana's face that it's most likely about this situation.

But even though the circumstances are far from ideal, it's nice to see everyone reunited like this. It kind of makes you wonder if you'd have a similar reaction if Citrine was...

...that's right. She's not here. And you don't know where she is. And there's an entire division of traitorous guards roaming the area. Doing your best to ignore the sick feeling in your stomach, you walk over to Celestino.

>[2/?]

Rolled 8

>>30475016
Give him the D

>>30475016

"Reinhold? What's wrong?" Luciana asks, noticing your grim expression as you approach.
"Your Majesty, would you happen to have heard anything from my sist- Marius Lanzmann and his wife?" you ask.
"That's right, they're your family..." Celestino mumbles under his breath. "I did invite them to today's announcement, but they didn't show up. To be honest, I'm rather glad that they didn't since it means that they weren't caught up in whatever this attack was."

While it is a relief that they didn't show up at all, you're still EXTREMELY worried...

"Wh... what about my mother?" Karel asks. "I haven't seen her all day, and..."
"I also invited her, but she told the messenger that she couldn't attend due to having to attend to matters concerning her restaurant," Celestino replies. "I'm sorry that I can't be of more help to you two, but I genuinely don't know where they are righr now. Perhaps they're in the castle..."
"And we don't know what the Fifth Royal Guard division is doing right now," Luciana says, adjusting the baby in her arms. "You said that they ran off after the assassins attacked my older brothers?" she turns to the lone guard.
"Y- yes, Your Highness," he replies with a bow. "They ran off the second they showed up... I dunno where they went, though."

>[3/?]

>>30475134
Horror intensifies

>>30475161
's'fine~.
everyone 's'well.

>>30475134

"Damn..." Celestino mutters, clenching his fist. "In any event, our first priority is to get out of here safely. Then we can head back to the castle and root out the traitors... Luciana? Karel? Would either of you be able to recognize them by sight?"
"I recognize the odd face here and there, but I don't know what division any of them are by heart," Luciana shakes her head.
"Sorry, I don't really associate with the guards much," Karel says.
"What about you?" Celestino asks, turning to the guard.
"They mostly keep to themselves but I guess I can pick them out by the fact that I -don't- know them?" he shrugs.

Well, at least that's better than nothing...

"It's probably best not to let on that we know anything about their plotting," Andreas says. "They didn't openly rebel or anything so chances are that they don't think that we suspect them... we can use that to our advantage."
"Call them and one of the uncompromised divisions out while using 'assassin hunting' or the like as a pretense, and then pick them off in the process?" Luciana asks.

>[4/5]

>>30475310
That's actually a pretty good plan Luciana

You know, with how shit is going down in Marconetti, it wouldn't be beyond Celestino to send Luci back with us to Granache. At least until the inevitable purge the king will do with all his staff and guard is over.

>>30475396

>This was all planned
>Luci infiltrates Granache
>She's got Marie and Reinhold wrapped around her finger
>Sylvie and her dad hate us
>Initiate schism

And Marconetti mops up the pieces.

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>>30475310
Does the guard look like this?

>>30475396
He's probably sending all his unmarried kids and his wife. If we can convince Agnes to come home with us, we'll have taken everything of value from Marconetti.

>>30475396
That'd be nice

>>30475436
And left the worst parts of Granache

>>30475396
Ugh, please no.. I was hoping that going back to Granache would give us time AWAY from Luci. Why do you have to crush my hopes like that?

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>>30475396

Yo, I'd be down with that.

>>30475445
Are you trying to suggest that leaving Monique behind is a bad thing? At least he's entertaining. I'd prefer to bring Monique back with us to Granache rather than Luci ANY time.

I really don't want to see the shit that would go down if Sylvie never ever EVER gets to NOT see Lucianna ever again.

That's the kinda shit that will break a person.

>>30475469
*a GOOD thing

Fuck me and my morning typing skills.

>>30475469
I'm saying leaving Monique in Marconetti is the best thing to come out of this entire story arc. At least in my opinion.

>>30475476
Maybe we'll get lucky and Sylvie will kill her for us.

Or at the worst this bullshit sends Sylvie into some kind of Dark Side path and she ends up joining the people trying to abduct Celestino's kids, just to take her revenge on Luci.

Good job, guys, you broke Sylvie.

>>30475495
You mean Monique and Mattias in Kinsen

>>30475476
Man, it was just a crush. People don't go crazy over cru-

Wait, teenage girls. Nevermind.

>>30475495
And in my opinion it's.. middling. Greatly overshadowed by the WORST thing to come out of this arc, which is dating Luci.

>>30475310
>[5/5]

"You're a lot better at this than I'd expected," Celestino says, smiling at his daughter. "I think that we'll do just that... but first we need to get to safety."

Celestino then calls everyone together to discuss the evacuation plans. After apologizing profusely to Kinsen's royal family for getting them involved in this situation at all, he sets up a defensive formation for safely making it out of the building. With the noncombatants in the center, Sir Gregory and Takamaru take the lead while you, Nicolette, Rana, Monique and the other fighters guard the sides of the formation and Celestino himself takes the rear.

After making sure that everyone is in agreement with the plan, Thierri sends Gerhard to scout ahead for any potential ambush points... and you're off!


>anything you wanted to mention before leaving?

>>30475503
Yeah, remember that Sylvie beat her hands bloodied over this shit. Not giving her ANY time to recover? Yeah, kiss that friendship goodbye. We might even lose Nico for it too, since Nico will side with Sylvie in this, AND will spend the rest of her free time with Melanie.

So, as usual, Luci route creates the shittiest of circumstances for everyone but Luci.

>>30475511
Zip ya trap Reinholio

Rolled 56

>>30475511

"I hope the royal kitchen is well stocked. After all this exercise I could use a snack."

>>30475511
EVERYBODY HOLD HANDS

>>30475511
Suggest that after this, for the safety of his kids, Celestino sends them all to Takamaru's homeland, and forbid communications with all but Celestino himself in order to keep them safeguarded and secreted away.

Wow, the anti-Lucifags are out in force tonight.

>>30475511
Nope.

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>>30475511

Can't think of anything to say.

>>30475511
Let's keep our mouth shut

>>30475539
I'll second this

>>30475505
>>30475521

For the love of God give it a rest already. I'm not any happier than you about it but seriously stop it already. This atmosphere of bitterness is not helping anyone. Sometimes things just don't develop as we'd like them to. So suck it up and make the best of it.

Just because Luciana is the worst waifu doesn't mean that she's actually bad. And Sylvie will get over it eventually. She's too good natured not to.

Rolled 3

>>30475511
Ey yo Gregory you a bitch, also I tapped yo daughter and that hella fine maid bunny, too

>>30475546
It's funny because this is pretty tame compared to, y'know, every single thread since we routelocked.

>>30475505
Dating third best girl is a lot better than I had expected out of the followers for this quest. Though it felt a bit rushed I'm glad it is over with.

>>30475511
Keep silent and be wary of ambushes. Suggestions can wait until after we know we're in the clear.

>>30475569
The other threads didn't contain people wishing a girl would get murdered over petty bullshit.

>>30475554
I am making the best of it - I skip over anything with Luci in it. Which is why I'm really hoping she doesn't come back to Granache with us, since that'll pretty much make a majority of the Quest unreadable most of the time, like it is right now in this arc.

>>30475511
Can't think of anything.

>>30475396
Maybe he'll dump Emilio on Granache as well. That'd be pretty neat.

>>30475554
it's a good thing to let their sadness out but i do agree with you on criticizing the other chars.

honestly though from the very beginning until now i only developed the one and true waifu.
the quest itself.and fondling. fondle fondle fondle.

>>30475592
Might wanna go back and re-read those threads, then. Back when Sylvie was on her rage-fit, there was some sentiment of hope that she'd run into Luci and the problem would fix itself.

>>30475593
Than why the fuck are you even here if your going to skip over story posts just because it contains someone you don't like? Seriously, that is the most childish thing I've ever heard.

>writing

>>30475607
Would you prefer that I read them and increase my posts on Luci tenfold?

>>30475620
We'd all prefer if you just stopped posting, period.

>>30475607
Also, the Quest has plenty more to offer besides Luci - and will once more have tons to offer after we ditch her and go back home. At this point it's more or less the equivalent of weathering the bad part of a story to get to the good parts.

>>30475620
I think we'd all prefer it if you got over your vendetta and quit bitching.

>>30475631
>We
Keep on shillin' there, brah.

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>>30475620
Or, or, now follow me here, you could just NOT post and not drag down thread quality with your impotent rage.

Or get over it, that would work too, but I'm not optimistic.

Crazy ideas, I know.

>>30475635
>vendetta
That would somehow imply that I had one. Criticizing a character and their effects on the narrative is hardly a vendetta. Nor is hoping for an optimal outcome in one's favor a vendetta either.

If that were true there must be an absurd degree of vendetta'ing going on towards Monique from a lot of you Lucifags.

>>30475620
>>30475631
>>30475634
>>30475635

Enough already.

Let's wait for the next storypost and perhaps speculate who might have orchestrated those abdutcion attempts.

>Ancelotta?
One obvious possibility for being worried by Celestino's scheming

>Celestino's runaway kid?
Another distinct possibility. Did those ninjas actually try to kill anyone, or were we just murdering them because they were at the wrong place with us present?

>>30475648
Or, OR, and here's my suggestion, I can just ignore the Luci posts and enjoy the actually entertaining parts of the story, and you guys can not get butthurt about it. Now, I know that's crazy too, I mean, accepting that someone doesn't like your waifu and all that, but hey, I'm willing to expect you guys to be the bigger men here. Because you obviously think you are, so might as well give you the chance to be all that you think you can be.

Now then, let's get back to the thread and stop harping on a person for disliking a character you like.

>>30475634
Oh, you mean Marianne? Because let's face it, you're just upset that you didn't get you 'true route' bullshit.

>>30475681
Actually, despite my liking Marie, my problems with the Luci Route are completely separate from such sentiments. I'd go into it, but then you'd turn around and bitch about me complaining some more.

>>30475678
You don't have to like anyone's waifu Luci isn't my waifu, but that doesn't give you carte blanche to blatantly shitpost. You just give everyone who doesn't like Luci like me a bad name and further galvanize everyone against your position by being annoying.

Your waifu a shit.
Stop this nonsense. The narrative is what it is, don't metabicker, that is the cancer of great threads. Roll high or let your dreams die.

>>30475659
or one of his old lover finally rich enough for revenge.

>>30475708
Are you trying to suggest that if we roll high enough, we can circumvent fate?

>>30475708

Or better yet, wait for VN and until then consider this an alternate reality quest.

>>30475715
Yes.
>Seriously, did you just show up to /tg/ or something?

>>30475723
I'm already treating this as a VN by doing the post-skipping thing. It's like when you're trying to 100% the VN or unlocking the additional routes, but need to go through the route of the girl you dislike to get to it: you just hold down the Skip Dialogue button and power on through it.

>>30475733
No, no, the reason I'm asking is that I'm genuinely interested if you're actually telling me that I could roll a d100 right now to see if a house dropped on a character or not.

Walking carefully and quietly, you keep your eyes and ears open for any sign of an attack as you follow the others out of the main hall. Aside from the gasps of horror that you hear from Marianne as you pass through a particularly bloody area that's filled with dismembered bodyparts, there's not much of interest that happens along the way.

You're REALLY thankful for that.

Before long, you see Gerhard standing by the door... if there were any assassins left after that final wave, they must have all run away.


>[1/?]

Anyone else getting a shitload of Cloudflare errors?

>>30475740
Do you also skip over parts of books or shows that contain a character you don't like? This is a serious question.

>>30475764
None here. Might just be you.

>>30475764
It was just the Australian Cloudflare fucking up, apparently.

>>30475764
been getting it for the past 6 hours now.
one time it lasted for 3 hours straight.

>>30475771
Nope, usually because in the shows, that character inevitably gets ganked, defeated or shoved aside - or given minimal appearances as a whole and not an entire arc dedicated to them. And in books it's usually the same. If you think about it, it's only ever really VNs that force you to endure a full dose of a single character throughout after introducing a wealth of other characters beforehand, provided that there are routes involved.

>>30475788
>Australian
Are the emus sabotaging the infrastructure again? I don't think Australia can handle another war, it might be time to abandon ship.

>>30475812
Well, it's nice to know that you hope every character that doesn't fit your approval should die horribly or be completely ignored.

And just for argument sake, let's say that your favorite show has a love triangle going on, and for one reason or another, your waifu ends up losing. Do you just drop the show entirely, or do you finish it to it's conclusion?

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>>30475819
We don't talk about that

>>30475761

Though it's definitely a welcome change from the bloody mess that you've just left, you're not really in any position to enjoy how peaceful it is outside the audience hall. After all, you still have no idea if Citrine's safe... and looking over at Karel, it's pretty obvious that she's just as worried about her mother.

"So what now, Celestino?" Thierri asks.
"Now we need to get to a safe area of the castle while we hunt down those traitors," Celestino replies.
"You sure that it's okay to just leave that chick back there?" Giancarlo asks, having somehow turned back to his normal self. "What if she escapes?"
"Don't worry, the entrapment spell I used on her lasts for three hours," Alberto replies. "That's plenty of time for someone trustworthy to get back here and capture her properly."
"I wish your other spells would last that long," he grumbles. "Three minutes per form isn't anywhere near enough, you know."


>[2/?]

>>30475921
>[3/3]

While Giancarlo and Alberto bicker about spell effect durations and sexy prisoner girls, Celestino waves a city guard over. Already unnerved by the bloody and torn clothing of several of the people in your group, the guard's face turns pale when his King informs him of the attack that just took place. As he runs off to fetch more city guards to serve as an escort back to the castle, Karel turns to the King.

"Your Majesty, would it be okay if I went on ahead to the castle?" she asks. "I'm really worried about my mother and I want to make sure that she hasn't been taken hostage or anything. I- I understand that it's my job to watch over Prince Emilio, but..."
"I understand how you feel," Celestino replies. "And while Emilio will probably be safe without you for a short while, I do worry about sending you in there alone. While it's too dangerous for them to try anything overt, it's still dangerous for you to go in alone."
"Your Majesty?"
"Even though you may the best swordsman in the kingdom, you're still just one boy... if you're cornered by more than one of those bastards, you'd be in trouble."


>offer to go along with her, you want to check on Citrine as well
>stay quiet

>>30476064

"Then I shall go with him. I have family to check on as well."

>>30476064
>>offer to go along with her, you want to check on Citrine as well
Except, y'know, without actually saying "her".

>>30476064
>>offer to go along with her, you want to check on Citrine as well
We need to ensure the safety of 2.5 of the 3.5 people that compose our family.

>>30476064
>offer to go along with him (HIM!), you want to check on Citrine as well

Our friends are surrounded by the biggest shit-kickers in two kingdoms, we can be spared to join the forward team.

>>30476064
>offer to go along with him, you want to check on Citrine as well

>>30476064

>Offer to accompany him*
>We'll check in on Citrine and Marius while we're at it
>Ask king Thierri for leave

>>30476064
>offer to go along with her, you want to check on Citrine as well
if Marianne is ok with it, ofc

>>30476064
"It's dangerous to go alone, take this Reinhold!"

>>30476064
>>stay quiet
its not our place, and the king makes a very good point

>>30476064
>offer to go along with her, you want to check on Citrine as well
If it's okay with Therri and Marianne

>>30476091
>>Ask king Thierri for leave
This shouldn't be overlooked either. Even if we're almost positive that he'll let us go (and from what we know about him he likely will), we should probably still go through the proper channels.

>>30476064
>stay quiet

>>30476064
Ask King Thierri for leave to join "him" as well as check on our Sister and Brother in Law.

>>30476064
>offer to go along with him, you want to check on Citrine as well

>>30476108
I'm pretty sure that asking for permission is implicit in the choice, though it's good that people remember it I guess.

>writing

>>30476157

You'd think so, but we've been punished by not stating the obvious in the past.

>>30475877
>Well, it's nice to know that you hope every character that doesn't fit your approval should die horribly or be completely ignored.

Interesting, especially since that wasn't what I said at all. Whatever helps you make up your own decisions as to disagree with my stance, I guess.

>And just for argument sake, let's say that your favorite show has a love triangle going on, and for one reason or another, your waifu ends up losing. Do you just drop the show entirely, or do you finish it to it's conclusion?

The question is moot, on account of the fact that I don't 'waifu'. Unless 'waifu' in this case refers to 'girl that I just happen to enjoy more as a character than the other girl'. Normally, at least, such romantic conclusions take place at the end of the series in the first place. So, once again, different results than the situation a VN presents. In a VN, you get to choose which girl you associate with, for the express intent and purpose of giving you the option of AVOIDING the girl you didn't like. When they adapt such things to TV, they balance the girls' appearances out, before ending the series on one girl (or even no girl, in some cases). So at no point are you forced to endure excessive amounts of 'girl you dislike'. In a VN, it's the other way around, as there is a conscious deciding factor in 'I WANT to spend time with this character', and so her time takes precedent above the other characters.

So again, your questioning is moot since you're arguing a totally different concept and scenario to defame my decisions regarding this one. I'm treating a VN-style Quest in a VN fashion. You are questioning my treatment by arguing Novel/TV-style narratives instead.

>>30476177
We obviously ask for permission first arch, we just thought doing so was implied in the choice.

>>30476229
It was.

>>30476221
A haven't really played/read any VNs. The only one I've ever finished a route in was Katawa Shoujo, and my major complant about that one was that I didn't get to spend enough time with each girl before suddenly getting routelocked into on of them.

"Your Majesty, would you mind if I went with him?" you ask, turning to Thierri.
"Huh?" Karel stares at you. "Why would..."
"I'm in the same boat as you," you reply. "My sister and her husband are probably in the castle too, and I want to make sure that they're safe."
"Oh yeah, I'd totally forgotten about that..." Thierri says, scratching his head. "Go on and back each other up, we'll catch up with you later."
"Thanks," you say with a slight bow.
"I suppose it's another story if you have someone backing you up," Celestino says. "Very well, you have my blessing."
"Thanks, Your Majesty!" Karel shouts. "C'mon, let's go!"

After waving goodbye to the others, you chase after Karel as she runs to the castle at top speed. It's pretty hard to keep up with her, to be honest.


>anything you wanted to say to her along the way?

>>30476269
"Any chance she would be at the restaurant?"

>>30476269
No. No matter how tempting it is to start spaghettopologizing for accidental fondle, now is not the place or time.

>>30476269
is the prince keeping it a secret too?

>>30476221
Okay, you don't like the character, that's fine, do what you said and skip the bits with her in, just stop posting just to bitch about her and how you hope she dies.

>>30476269

"So... I suppose no one else knows?"

>>30476269
"I'm sorry about earlier. Your reason to keep it a secret are your own, and I won't pry into your personal life."

>>30476269
"Thank you for not freezing me to a wall back there."

>>30476269
>>30476283
This

>>30476269

>>30476283
This is pretty reasonable.

If we really want to acknowledge the situation, tell her to remind us to apologize properly once everything has cooled down.

Lets her know we at least somewhat regret what happened, but also makes it clear that we're neither going to let it change our opinion of her nor distract us from the situation at hand.

If she wants to clear things up while we're on the run, that's her prerogative. But there's no sense in forcing the issue ourselves while we've both still got our mind on other things.

>>30476281
>>30476283
these two.

>>30476269
nah, focus on running

>>30476269
Question: If I remember correctly, Karel doesn't do magic except for her fire-sword, right? In that case, we should do a quick strategy session.

Basically: If we run into any hostile magic users, let us deal with them since we've got some counters (holy shine seemed particularly good at blocking blasty magic) while Karel keeps anyone else off our back. The exception being obvious ice-themed enemies, because fuck ice, and she's got the fire sword for that.

Don't want to end up with crossed tactical wires if we get jumped by something unexpected.

>writing

>>30476269

Save your breath and RUN.

>>30476221
Here's the thing. This isn't a VN. It's a Quest. You can keep making those comparisons all you want, but the two are mutually exclusive in that one is written around the various routes with actions and outcomes that are largely set in stone, and the other is written around player choices that are chosen based upon the apparent majority and is extremely fluid (although that depends more on the quality of the QM more than anything).

To ignore a large part of the quest just because you don't agree with the action taken is completely childish. If you want a VN you can play by yourself, than just stop reading these threads and wait for Archelon to release the one he has planned.

"So is the Prince keeping it a secret too?" you ask, having finally caught up with her.
"...that'd make my life a hell of a lot easier," Karel mumbles. "but no. Nobody knows except me and my Mom and now you. And you better not tell ANYONE, you got it? Regardless of what I may feel about your family, I'm not about to have you ruin my entire life by blabbing to everyone."
"I wasn't going to anyways," you reply. "You've got your own reasons, and I'm not about to interfering with your life."
"Good."
"And most of my friends are girls anyways, so it's not like I think any differently of you."
"......" Without a single word, Karel simply glances over at you and shakes her head.
"What?"
"You find out my secret and now we're 'friends?'"
"...I thought we already were to begin with."

Turning away from you, Karel lets out an exasperated sigh and continues running.

"...you're just like Mom said -he- was... up and deciding shit like that on your own..." she mutters under her breath.

>[1/?]

>>30476534
bitch be crazy

>>30476534
Why can't we just keep our mouth shut?

>>30476575

What bad thing did we say? I think it was pretty nice.

>>30476575
Because anime.

>>30476534
We siscon now!

>>30476534
Wow, what a cunt.

>>30476534
REINHOLD FRIEND CRITERIA:
>On speaking terms.
>Doesn't beat me regularly.

WE ARE SO GOOD AT FRIENDS. SO MANY FRIENDS. 400 FRIENDS.

>>30476534
okay! i think we talked enough, awkward silence all the way then!

>>30476534
Ouch, thats a punch in the gut for Reinhold.

>>30476606
MORE FRIENDS THAN FACEBOOK

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>>30476606

>not considering every person your friend

>>30476606
>On speaking terms.
>Doesn't beat me regularly.
So I take it he's not friends with the Dice Gods?

>>30476639
No one is friends with the dice gods.

>>30476639
He wants to like the Dice Gods but they're just really tsun.

Rolled 10

>>30476651
I am.

>>30476651
Aside from Andreas

Rolled 13

>>30476663
You're not Wrenloft.

>>30476665
The dice gods don't like Andreas, they just like loli's.

>>30476534

As you make it to the side gate, there seems to be a lot of commotion going on. Apparently the someone brutally murdered the guards who were posted at the front entrance and there's a massive search going on for the culprit. With that and the news that just came in about the attack in the audience hall, the guards are all on high alert... but the two of you are waved right on through due to your positions.

Too bad you don't know what division the two guards who let you through belong to.

"My Mom's room is in the guest wing, is that where your sister's staying?" Karel asks as she leads you up a stairwell.
"I think so," you reply.
"Good, that saves us some time. You mind if we look for my Mom first?"

You honestly want to say that you do in fact mind, but then Karel would probably run off on her own anyways and ruin the entire point of you backing her up in the first place.

Not that you could blame her. But someone needs to keep a cool head and so that responsibility seems to have fallen to you...

"Yeah, sure," you say. "As long as we go to find Citrine right after we make sure your mother's safe."
"No problem!" she replies. "Thank you so much!"


>[2/?]

>>30476751
>[3/3]

"And in case something happens," you say, "leave any magicusers to me. I only know a few spells, but all you have is that Flamberge, right?"
"Yeah." she nods. "I really ought to get Emilio to show me how to cast..."
"Might be a good idea in the future," you reply. "Anyways, I'll take the lead in situations like that so you just back me up, alright?"
"Yeah, sure."

With that out of the way, you follow Karel out of the stairwell and into the hallway. Most of the party guests seem to have already left, so it's really empty compared to how it's been in the past few days since you've arrived in this country.

"My Mom's place is right around this corner," Karel says. "After we make sure she's safe, it's straight to finding your sister, okay?"
"Alright," you nod.

As you turn the corner, you do indeed spot Alicia right down the hall... and she's talking with two guards. Straining your vision to look closer without being too obvious, you see that one of them has his hand firmy on her upper arm, and Alicia herself does not seem happy about this at all...


>how do you react?

>>30476882
stop right there criminal scum!

>>30476897
+1

>>30476882
Act as if we don't see anything suspicious, slowly approach, tell them good work for making sure she's safe.

Then when we get close enough stab the one holding her in the throat and pull Alicia away from the remaining guard.

>>30476897
Agreed, Since I can't think of anything better.

>>30476882
"Gentlemen! What is happening here!"

>>30476292
You're the ones so butthurt about my apparent dislike that you keep dredging this issue up even after I said I was done and was just gonna go back to skipping.

By the way, I wasn't the only one making remarks about Luci in this thread, if you were under the impression that this was all one person.

>>30476425
>This isn't a VN. It's a Quest.
A Quest styled in the format and function as a VN. The rest of your rant is negated by this very basic fact. So get over it already.

>>30476882
"huh, what's going on here?"
"what division are you guys from anyway?"
depending on the answer, murder or improvise

>>30476905
>"stab the one holding her in the throat"
Yeah no. Don't do this. We have no idea if they are third division or not.

>>30476905
Seconded.

>>30476882
Clay Spread.

>>30476882

Not this exact phrase, but the gist of it works
>>30476897

>>30476534
Karel's dad confirmed to be Volker's best friend.

>>30476882

Walk up nonchalantly.

"Is there a problem?"

Alternately open with a salvo of clay balls, but that might be an overreaction

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>>30476882
Tailwind? If anything just slam into one of them.

>>30476932
We've been guessing that for sometime, just adds to the possibility.

>>30476897
This works, though something less harsh than "Criminal scum" I think.

>>30476948
It definitely creates a nice dynamic for the two of them, especially since Karel seems to be the hot-headed one in this little relationship - wasn't it reversed with Volker and his friend?

>>30476953
I think so, yeah.

>>30476915
We're not the ones so butthurt that we're going to ignore an entire character entirely, kid. So please leave the thread and never return.

Okay, there's a bunch of conflicting suggestions here so I've narrowed it down.

>call them out
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and attack while their guard's down
>hit them with clay spread

>>30477022
>>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

>>30477022
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

With a focus on getting Alicia out of danger.

>>30477022
>call them out

>>30477022
>>hit them with clay spread

>>30477001
Pretty sure I was only ignoring the romantic involvement with the character. Man, your butthurt is massive if you can't just let this shit go. Hell, even if I am petty, you're the one who's so utterly infantile that you can't just get over the fact that someone is being petty.

>>30477022
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

>>30477022
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

>>30477022
>>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

>>30477022
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

>>30477022

>approach them in a most unsuspecting manner, but ready to act without hesitation should they decide to, say, hold the lady as hostage

>>30477022
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

Be ready to murder them if something doesn't seem right.

>>30477022
>>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

>>30477022
>>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react
and like others have said be on full alert

>>30477022
>approach them like you don't suspect anything and see how they react

It's theoretically possible that these guys are just regular guards reacting to the commotion, and she's just being a typical contrary civvie who doesn't understand how crisis situations work.

Unlikely, but possible.

>writing

"Those bastards," Karel mutters under her breath. "I'll kill-"
"Keep a cool head," you say as you stretch your arm out to the side to keep her from running past. "For all we know they might be legit guards who are just doing their job."
"Yeah, but what if-"
"We walk up like nothing's wrong and then take it from there, got it? You can't tell what division they're in just from looking, right?"
"No..."
"Then this is the safest way to do this. Okay?"
"Yeah, whatever..." she grumbles.

After taking a few seconds to calm down, you duck behind the corner.

"Light of the heavens," you chant, "cast down your brilliance and deliver me from my enemies."
"What are you doing!?" Karel whisper-shouts at you.
"Can't cast it over there, they'll see the Script," you reply. "So I'm Conceptualizing the incantation where they can't see it and I'll hold it until we get to them just in case."

Holy crap it's hard to maintain Script while holding a conversation.


>[1/?]

>>30477254
>Rein trains and becomes good at delayed spells

That could actually be pretty cool.

>>30477254
That's pretty sneaky, I like it.

>>30477254
>Get over there
>They're actually traitor guards
>They slap Karel's mom like idiots for whatever reason
>Script corrupted by thoughts of KILL
>It turns into a sword made of light instead of a shield

>>30477309
so turn into a jedi?

i like it.

>>30477309
You're over thinking it, it'll stay a shield but it will stab them.

>>30477325
I'm sure there's an actual spell for that.

A really aggressive Holy Shine would just be regular Holy Shine used as a bludgeoning instrument. After all "large piece of wood" is humanity's third-oldest killing instrument, right after "large rock" and "fist".

>>30477326
Nah, it'll turn into a Wheel Skeleton.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdOYJAXo_2U

>>30477353
kinda hoping for a memory wipe spell too.
"this isn't the ara ara you were looking for"

>>30477369
I imagine that's a bit complex, and it's also outside our repertoire since we're not a spook of any kind. Yet.

Also might be highly illegal depending on how invasive/damaging memory altering is, that's a thing in some settings.

>>30477254

Turning the corner once again, you approach the guards just as they've begun to lead Alicia down the hall.

"Hey, how's it going!?" you call out.
"Huh?" a guard turns to face you. "What do you want?"
"Reinhold? Karel?" Alicia gasps. "Wh... what are you two doing here?"
"Yeah," the other guard says. "If you haven't noticed, the castle's on high alert. We're on the way to take this lady here to an interrogation room since she can't account for her whereabouts at the time that the guards at the front gate were murdered."
"That's actually why we're here as well," you say. "My friend here was worried about his mother being out in the open while there's a murderer lurking about so we got permission to leave our posts and retrieve her."

The best lies are based in truth after all.

"So let her go already so she can come with us," Karel says, glaring at the guard.
"No can do," he shakes his head. "We're here on orders from our Captain, and..."
"You may have forgotten this, but I am a ROYAL BODYGUARD," Karel says through clenched teeth. "I outrank ALL of the Captains out there so why don't you follow MY goddamned orders and let go of my mother before I get pissed off."

Damn it, Karel...


>[2/?]

>>30477420
smooth move slick.

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>>30477420
Seriously Karel, what the hell.

>>30477420
Does Karel just go into maximum overtard mode whenever around people that know she's a girl?

>>30477485
Her mother being in danger is what specifically sets her off to not act smart.
The "knows that she's a girl" thing is secondary.

>>30477485

No, she goes into maximum forceful mode when his family is in very tangible danger.

>implying you wouldn't be mad at strangers manhandling your mom

>>30477485
I think this is more related to the presence of her Mom, since Karel is kinda a momma's boy (girl, whatever).

>>30477511

my mom is pretty scary dude. but yes i get your point.

>>30477511

I will be very mad, but i'm sure i would be able to hide it well enough to stab them in the neck when they least expect it.

>>30477525
>my mom is pretty scary dude
You got two dads?

>>30477532
Well yes, but some people aren't very good at stuff like that, and Karel has been shown to fly off the handle when given sufficient provocation.

>>30477570
Think he meant "My mom is pretty scary, dude,"

Never forget the power of a comma.

>>30477420

"Calm down, Karel," you say, reaching for Alicia's hand. "We're all on the same side here so I'm sure that these fellows here will understand-"
"I -said- no can do," the guard replies, grabbing you by the forearm with a VERY strong grip. "Chain of command or not, I'm not taking orders from some little kid. If you got a problem, take it up with my commanding officer."
"And what division captain would this be, if you'd mine telling me who I need to go punch in the face?"
"Captain of the fifth div-"

Before the man can even finish speaking, Karel runs her sword through the guard's heart.

"Wrong answer."


>[3/?]

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>>30477583

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>>30477583

Oh god, that was quick.

Are we even sure the ENTIRE 5th division are traitors?

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>>30477583
Say Karel, you think you might've just you know...chopped his arm off or something? Prisoners and shit?

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>>30477583
Cry Havoc time boys and girls.
>"Wrong answer."
YES!

>>30477583
Berserk Button status = Found

>>30477621
>Rapier
>Cutting off an arm

>>30477606
By the time Karel's done jumping the gun, we'll never know short of some kind of necromancy.

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>>30477606
Better safe then sorry.

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>>30477583

>>30477606
Everyone including Celestino are operating under that assumption, and it would have been extremely hard for the traitors to organize all this if some of the people in their division were still loyal (well, unless they killed them first, or otherwise ensured they weren't on duty today).

Either way, the odds of anyone we meet from the fifth being loyal are low enough that letting god sort them out is probably fine.

>>30477634
Actual rapiers are not the flimsy fencing foils most people associate them with.

They could hack and cleave damned well.

>>30477634
>Magic flaming rapier
>Setting with plenty of awesome and fuck yeah.

Glare from the morning sun on the screen of this crappy holdover laptop is a sign that I've run for too long, guys.
It was a fun thread though, and I apologize for the slower-trhan-usual posting rate.
(someone was storytiming Usagi Yojimbo over on /co/ and I was reading that on and off in the middle of writing)
Anyways, the next thread will be on Tuesday night. And hopefully at a reasonable starting time for a change.

As always, thanks for playing!

>>30477695
thanks for running, arch

>>30477695
Good run as always Arch.

>>30477695
GG, Arch

>>30477695

Fuck you for ending in this moment!

Ah, just kidding. Thanks for the thread OP! Take care.